Income of the Aged Chartbook, 2010

 
Percentage with various levels of income, 2010
Income (dollars) Percentage of aged units
Less than 5,000 4.7
5,000 to 9,999 8.3
10,000 to 14,999 14.0
15,000 to 19,999 12.6
20,000 to 24,999 8.8
25,000 to 29,999 8.3
30,000 to 34,999 6.0
35,000 to 39,999 5.1
40,000 to 44,999 4.0
45,000 to 49,999 3.5
50,000 to 74,999 11.4
75,000 to 99,999 5.3
100,000 or more 8.0
NOTE: Totals do not necessarily equal the sum of the rounded components.
Median income, by age and marital status, 2010
Age All units Married couples Nonmarried persons
65 to 69 37,200 58,768 20,403
70 to 74 28,820 46,412 17,497
75 to 79 24,357 37,114 16,927
80 or older 19,457 34,826 16,097
 
Median income, by marital status, race, and Hispanic origin, 2010
  Income (dollars)
Marital status  
Married couples 44,718
Nonmarried persons 17,261
Race  
White alone 27,214
Black alone 16,463
Asian alone 17,977
Hispanic origin 14,400
 
Constant (2010) dollar median income, by marital status and race, selected years
Year Married couples Nonmarried persons White Black
1962 20,759 8,159 -- --
1967 22,021 8,526 12,417 8,774
1971 28,848 11,032 17,477 10,192
1976 30,237 12,876 18,931 11,458
1978 31,638 13,077 19,933 10,869
1980 31,809 12,649 19,636 10,744
1982 34,188 13,287 21,354 10,801
1984 36,203 14,040 23,002 11,480
1986 37,583 14,285 23,437 11,838
1988 37,427 14,613 24,178 11,618
1990 38,960 15,261 24,261 11,657
1992 37,017 14,849 23,350 11,599
1994 36,850 15,310 23,470 12,908
1996 38,836 15,707 23,562 13,410
1998 40,368 16,073 25,357 12,594
2000 39,493 16,101 25,060 15,617
2002 39,345 15,988 24,368 14,545
2004 40,287 16,160 25,048 14,433
2006 41,431 17,228 26,671 15,575
2008 43,638 16,971 26,512 16,769
2010 44,718 17,261 27,214 16,463
NOTE: -- = not available.
Percentage receiving income from specified source, 2010
Source of income Percent
Social Security 86.3
Asset income 51.9
Retirement benefits other than Social Security 39.7
Public and private 2.3
Public only 13.0
Private only 24.4
Earnings 26.3
Veterans' benefits 3.7
Cash public assistance 3.7
Noncash benefits 11.8
 
Percentage of aged beneficiary units receiving Social Security benefits, by relative importance of benefits to total income, 2010
  All beneficiary units Beneficiary married couples Nonmarried beneficiaries
50% or more of income 65.3 53.1 74.1
90% or more of income 36.3 22.5 46.1
 
Percentage receiving income from earnings and pensions, by age, 2010
Age Earnings Private pensions Public pensions
65 to 69 48.6 22.8 15.3
70 to 74 30.2 27.3 16.0
75 to 79 18.5 29.3 16.7
80 or older 7.5 28.1 14.2
 
Percentage receiving income from major sources, by race and Hispanic origin, 2010
Major source of income White alone Black alone Asian alone Hispanic
Social Security 87.8 81.2 63.7 72.7
Asset income 55.9 24.9 34.5 24.4
Pensions 41.6 29.9 24.0 18.5
Earnings 26.8 22.5 24.2 25.7
SSI 2.6 7.5 10.6 8.7
 
Percentage receiving income from major sources, selected years
Year Social Security Pensions Asset income Earnings Cash public assistance
1962 69 18 54 36 13
1967 86 22 50 27 12
1971 87 23 49 31 10
1976 89 31 56 25 11
1978 90 32 62 25 10
1980 90 34 66 23 10
1982 90 35 68 22 8
1984 91 38 68 21 9
1986 91 40 67 20 7
1988 92 42 68 22 7
1990 92 44 69 22 7
1992 92 45 67 20 7
1994 91 42 67 21 6
1996 91 41 63 21 6
1998 90 43 63 21 5
2000 90 41 59 22 5
2002 90 41 55 22 5
2004 89 41 55 24 4
2006 88.5 41.3 54.9 24.6 3.7
2008 87.2 40.7 54.4 26.4 3.9
2010 86.3 39.7 51.9 26.3 3.7
SOURCE: March Current Population Survey, Survey of the Aged, and Survey of Demographic and Economic Characteristics of the Aged.
Percentage with various levels of income, by receipt of asset income, 2010
Income (dollars) With asset income Without asset income
Less than 10,000 4.1 22.3
10,000 to 19,999 17.3 36.4
20,000 to 29,999 17.1 17.1
30,000 or more 61.5 23.8
 
Median income, by receipt of earnings and retirement benefits, 2010
Receipt of retirement benefits With earnings With no earnings
No retirement benefits 52,000 0
One retirement benefit type 50,363 15,434
Two retirement benefit types 67,254 33,557
NOTE: Retirement benefit types are Social Security, Railroad Retirement, government pension, and private pension or annuity.
Shares of aggregate income for the lowest and highest income quintiles, by source, 2010
Source of aggregate income Percentage of
aggregate income
for lowest quintile		 Percentage of
aggregate income
for highest quintile
Social Security 84.3 17.3
Earnings 2.4 44.9
Pensions 2.9 19.1
Asset income 1.8 16.1
Cash public assistance 7.0 0.1
Other 1.6 2.4
NOTES: The quintile limits for aged units for 2010 are $12,554, $20,145, $32,602, and $57,957.
Totals do not necessarily equal the sum of the rounded components.
Shares of aggregate income, by source, selected years (in percent)
Year Social Security Pensions Asset income Earnings Other
1962 31.0 9.0 16.0 29.0 15.0
1967 34.0 12.0 15.0 29.0 10.0
1976 39.0 16.0 18.0 23.0 4.0
1978 38.0 16.0 19.0 23.0 4.0
1980 39.0 16.0 22.0 19.0 4.0
1982 39.0 15.0 25.0 18.0 3.0
1984 38.0 15.0 28.0 16.0 3.0
1986 38.0 16.0 26.0 17.0 3.0
1988 37.9 17.5 24.8 17.0 2.8
1990 36.4 18.3 24.5 17.7 3.1
1992 39.5 19.6 20.6 17.1 3.2
1994 42.1 18.7 17.6 18.0 3.6
1996 40.3 18.5 18.0 20.0 3.2
1998 37.6 18.7 19.9 20.7 3.1
2000 38.4 18.0 17.5 23.1 3.0
2002 39.4 19.0 13.6 24.9 3.1
2004 38.6 19.7 12.6 26.3 2.7
2006 36.7 17.9 14.9 27.8 2.7
2008 36.5 18.5 12.7 29.7 2.7
2010 36.7 18.6 11.4 30.2 3.1
SOURCE: March Current Population Survey, Survey of the Aged, and Survey of Demographic and Economic Characteristics of the Aged.
NOTES: Totals do not necessarily equal the sum of the rounded components.
Statistic was not produced in 1971.
Percentage with various levels of family income, 2010
Income (dollars) Percent
Less than 5,000 2.1
5,000 to 9,999 4.3
10,000 to 14,999 8.6
15,000 to 19,999 9.7
20,000 to 24,999 8.1
25,000 to 29,999 8.3
30,000 to 34,999 6.8
35,000 to 39,999 5.9
40,000 to 44,999 5.3
45,000 to 49,999 4.6
50,000 to 74,999 15.2
75,000 to 99,999 7.9
100,000 or more 13.0
NOTE: Totals do not necessarily equal the sum of the rounded components.
Family income of persons 65 or older tends to be higher than the income of aged units 65 or older because it includes income from all family members, not just a spouse. In addition, each elderly person counts individually rather than as part of a marital unit; statistics based on aged units give greater weight to nonmarried persons as compared to statistics based on persons.
Median family income, by sex and age, 2010
Age All persons Men Women
65 to 69 48,773 54,360 44,086
70 to 74 38,516 44,357 34,629
75 to 79 33,200 37,205 29,670
80 or older 27,892 33,614 23,484
NOTE: Family income of persons 65 or older tends to be higher than the income of aged units 65 or older because it includes income from all family members, not just a spouse. In addition, each elderly person counts individually rather than as part of a marital unit; statistics based on aged units give greater weight to nonmarried persons as compared to statistics based on persons.
Median family income, by sex, race, and Hispanic origin, 2010
Sex, race, or Hispanic origin Dollars
All persons 36,714
Men 42,420
Women 32,069
White alone 37,167
Black alone 28,500
Asian alone 46,931
Hispanic 30,357
NOTE: Family income of persons 65 or older tends to be higher than the income of aged units 65 or older because it includes income from all family members, not just a spouse. In addition, each elderly person counts individually rather than as part of a marital unit; statistics based on aged units give greater weight to nonmarried persons as compared to statistics based on persons.
Family income source, by sex, 2010
Source of income All persons Men Women
Social Security 88.0 87.4 88.5
Asset income 56.9 58.8 55.4
Retirement benefits other than Social Security 43.0 45.4 41.0
Earnings 38.2 41.7 35.5
Veterans' benefits 4.2 5.4 3.3
Cash public assistance 4.6 3.8 5.2
Noncash benefits 10.0 7.7 11.8
NOTE: Family income of persons 65 or older tends to be higher than the income of aged units 65 or older because it includes income from all family members, not just a spouse. In addition, each elderly person counts individually rather than as part of a marital unit; statistics based on aged units give greater weight to nonmarried persons as compared to statistics based on persons.
Percentage of aged persons in families receiving Social Security benefits, by sex and relative importance of family benefits to family total income, 2010
  All persons Men Women
50% or more of income 55.3 51.0 58.5
90% or more of income 26.6 22.9 29.4
NOTE: Family income of persons 65 or older tends to be higher than the income of aged units 65 or older because it includes income from all family members, not just a spouse. In addition, each elderly person counts individually rather than as part of a marital unit; statistics based on aged units give greater weight to nonmarried persons as compared to statistics based on persons.
Poverty status, by sex, marital status, race, and Hispanic origin, 2010 (in percent)
Sex, marital status, race, or Hispanic origin Poor Near poor
All persons 9.0 5.7
Men 6.7 4.9
Women 10.7 6.5
Married 4.2 3.1
Nonmarried 15.0 8.9
White alone 7.7 5.3
Black alone 18.0 10.5
Asian alone 14.6 6.0
Hispanic 18.0 9.8
 
Poverty status, by age, 2010 (in percent)
Age Poor Near poor
65 to 69 7.7 4.6
70 to 74 8.6 5.0
75 to 79 9.1 6.6
80 or older 10.7 7.2